ALAN--NUTRITION PLAN

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OVERVIEW

CALORIES TARGET

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KEY POINTS

Your nutrition guide · Athletic · Muscle Gain

Key points

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1. Your Body Type and Muscle Gain

• Stick closely to your calorie target: eating more will not build muscle faster; it only adds fat.
• Train with progressive overload: gradually lift more weight or do more reps over time. Food lets your body grow; training tells it to.
• Aim to gain around 0.2 to 0.35% of your body weight per week. Faster gain usually means fat. Your body can only build a limited amount of new muscle each week, so extra weight beyond that is stored as fat.
• Your targets should be reviewed every 2 to 4 weeks and adjusted as you go. As your weight and body composition change, so does the amount of energy your body uses.
• Change your calories in small steps, never all at once. Your coach will adjust them gradually as you progress.
• Weigh yourself at the same time each week (and measure your waist or body fat if you can), and tell your coach how it is changing.
• Track what you eat and how your body responds: consistency is the key.

2. Metabolism, Blood Sugar and Carbohydrates

• Your metabolism is relatively fast, so keep your fuel stores topped up. If your stores run low, your body turns to muscle protein for fuel.
• The right number of meals keeps blood sugar balanced and insulin low. Every meal triggers a rise in insulin, so the number of meals decides how many times a day your body switches into storage mode.
• You handle carbohydrate fairly well, but amount, type and timing all matter for your goal. Your muscles respond well to insulin and store glycogen efficiently, but any carbohydrate beyond what they can store is turned into fat.
• Low insulin between meals helps stop spare energy being stored as fat. Insulin switches off hormone-sensitive lipase, the enzyme that releases fat from your fat cells.

3. Meal Timing and Frequency

• Spacing meals 3.5 to 4 hours apart gives insulin time to fall between meals, so your body is not constantly in storage mode.
• Spread carbohydrate and protein evenly across your meals. This keeps your blood sugar steady and gives your muscles a regular supply of fuel and building material.
• Make sure you eat after a long fast (breakfast) and after being very active (work, walking or training). These are the times your fuel stores are lowest and your muscles are most ready to absorb nutrients.
• Include a small amount of low-GL carbohydrate with your evening meal, as shown on your nutrient breakdown table. This tops up your glycogen for the next day and helps protect your muscle overnight.
• Eat 4 to 5 meals a day, not counting your post-workout shake. Your coach will tell you which number suits you.
• Keep all your eating within a 12 to 14-hour window, so your overnight fast is 10 to 12 hours. Water, black coffee, plain tea and sugar-free electrolytes are fine at any time: they contain no energy and do not raise insulin.
• Start your eating window within about 1 to 3 hours of waking, and finish your last meal at least 3 hours before bed.
• Before bed, you can have 30 to 40g of slow-digesting casein protein (Greek yoghurt, cottage cheese, milk or a casein shake) 30 to 60 minutes before sleep. It counts towards your evening protein and keeps muscle building going overnight.

How your protein, carbohydrate and fat are spread through the day

These tables show how your day’s protein, carbohydrate and fat are spread across your meals. Each figure is the percentage of that day’s total eaten at that meal, so every column adds up to 100%. Use the table that matches the number of meals your coach has set. The grams come from your nutrient breakdown table; this shows when in the day to eat them, because the timing of a nutrient changes what your body does with it. Carbohydrate includes vegetables, salad and fruit as well as starchy foods. The tables assume you train after the middle meal of the day. If you train earlier or later, keep the same pattern around your session.

4 meals a day · 12-hour eating window

Meal	Training day			Non-training day
	Protein	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Carbs	Fat
Meal 1: breakfast	21%	17%	37%	25%	25%	25%
Meal 2: pre-training meal	21%	17%	19%	25%	25%	25%
Post-workout shake	16%	25%	0%	Not taken
Meal 3: post-training meal	21%	27%	0%	25%	25%	25%
Meal 4: evening meal	21%	14%	44%	25%	25%	25%
Total for the day	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%

5 meals a day · 14-hour eating window

Meal	Training day			Non-training day
	Protein	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Carbs	Fat
Meal 1: breakfast	18%	15%	27%	20%	20%	20%
Meal 2	17%	14%	27%	20%	20%	20%
Meal 3: pre-training meal	17%	14%	14%	20%	20%	20%
Post-workout shake	14%	22%	0%	Not taken
Meal 4: post-training meal	17%	23%	0%	20%	20%	20%
Meal 5: evening meal	17%	12%	32%	20%	20%	20%
Total for the day	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%

Carbohydrate: Carbohydrate spread evenly through the day, with a little more after training.

Non-training days: carbohydrate total 10% lower (20% lower on a second non-training day in a row); protein and fat totals unchanged.

4. When to Eat: Waking, Training and Fasting

• Eat your first meal within 1 hour of waking, whether or not you are training. Your fuel stores are large enough to wait a little, but leaving it too long makes you overly hungry and tempts you to overeat later in the day.
• Always eat before you train. Never train on an empty stomach. Training fasted would make your body break down muscle for fuel, and your fuel stores would run low part-way through the session.
• Eat a full meal 1.5 to 2 hours before training, containing protein, healthy fat and low-GL carbohydrate. A moderate gap lets the meal digest, so it is fuelling you rather than sitting in your stomach. On a muscle gain plan every session is fuelled, because building muscle needs energy and amino acids available when you train.
• If you train early in the morning, have a light snack 45 minutes before (low-GL carbohydrate and protein, no fat). Fat slows digestion, so leaving it out means the snack is ready to use as fuel.

5. Training-Day Nutrition: The Three Phases

• Drink about 5 to 7ml of water per kg of body weight in the 2 to 4 hours before training (roughly 350 to 500ml for a 70kg person). Starting well hydrated keeps your blood volume up, so more oxygen and fuel reach your muscles. Losing just 2% of your body weight in sweat reduces performance.
• Your meal and snack timing before training is set out in “When to Eat” above.
• Avoid fat for 90 minutes before and after training. Fat slows down how quickly your stomach empties, so it would delay the fuel you need for training and the carbohydrate and protein your muscles need straight afterwards.
• After training: have a post-workout shake (available from any health food shop) containing about 0.75g (women) / 0.85g (men) of carbohydrate and 0.4g of protein per kg of body weight (the same for women and men) for a session of about an hour, within 20 minutes of finishing. Longer sessions need a little more; keep protein to about 40g at most per shake. Example: a 60kg woman would need about 45g carbohydrate and 24g protein; an 80kg man about 68g carbohydrate and 32g protein.
• The carbohydrate after training should be high GL. We recommend dextrose (pure glucose, the simplest form of sugar, which is absorbed very quickly). See your nutrient breakdown table for the amount. If you are not having the dextrose shake, eat a high-GL food from your food list instead. Fast sugar raises insulin quickly, which speeds up glycogen refilling and switches off muscle breakdown.
• Take 1000mg of vitamin C after training. Vitamin C is needed to make collagen, the main protein in tendons and connective tissue, and supports your immune system during hard training.
• Eat a meal 30 minutes to 1 hour after your shake. The shake starts recovery; a full meal keeps amino acids and glucose coming while muscle building and glycogen refilling are still running at their fastest.

Example training day

This shows how the guidelines fit together on a day with afternoon training. Move the times to suit your own day: the spacing between meals and training is what matters.

Athletic body types spread carbohydrate evenly through the day.

Time	What to do	Carbohydrate?
8:00am	Wake up: 200 to 300ml of water
9:00am	Meal 1 (breakfast): protein, healthy fat and carbohydrate	Yes, low GL
12:00pm	Meal 2 (pre-training meal): protein, healthy fat and carbohydrate	Yes, low GL
1:45pm to 2:45pm	Training: water only
2:55pm	Post-workout shake (within 20 min) + 1000mg vitamin C	Yes, high GL (fast)
3:45pm	Meal 3 (after training): protein and carbohydrate, no fat yet (within 90 min of training)	Yes, low GL
9:00pm	Meal 4 (evening meal): protein, healthy fat and a small portion of carbohydrate	Yes, low GL
11:15pm	Optional: 30 to 40g casein protein before sleep
12:00pm	Bed

6. Food Choices, Rest Days and Daily Habits

• Track your intake with MyFitnessPal, a free food-diary app that adds up your calories and macronutrients (protein, carbohydrate and fat) for you. Most people underestimate how much they eat; tracking shows exactly how close you are to your targets.
• Drink 200 to 300ml of water as soon as you wake. You lose water overnight through breathing and sweating, so you wake slightly dehydrated, and even mild dehydration reduces energy and concentration.
• Keep drinking regularly through the day: roughly 30 to 35ml per kg of body weight (about 2 to 2.5 litres for a 70kg person), plus extra on training days. Water carries nutrients into your cells and waste out, and muscle is about three-quarters water.
• If you sweat heavily, weigh yourself before and after training. For every 1kg lost, drink about 1.25 to 1.5 litres of fluid over the next 2 to 4 hours, with a little salt or an electrolyte drink. You keep losing fluid through urine after training, so you need to drink more than you lost, and the salt helps your body hold on to it. Your personalised water recommendation is on your 9 Pillars Lifestyle page.
• Eat low-GL carbohydrates at all times except straight after training. Low-GL carbohydrate releases sugar slowly, so insulin rises gently and fat release is not switched off for long. Straight after training your muscles want sugar fast, so high GL is better then.
• Choose lean meats from your food list and spread your protein evenly through the day. Your muscles can only use a limited amount of protein for building at each meal, so spreading it out gives you more building periods across the day.
• Include protein at every meal. As a rough guide, aim for a palm-sized portion of meat, fish, eggs, Greek yoghurt or tofu. Your exact amounts are on your nutrient breakdown table. Each protein-rich meal switches muscle building on again.
• Choose healthy fats from your food list and spread them through the day. Healthy fats such as olive oil, nuts, oily fish and avocado are needed to make hormones, including testosterone, and to absorb vitamins A, D, E and K.
• Nutrients to focus on: electrolytes, which are minerals such as potassium, magnesium and sodium that control fluid balance and muscle contraction (bananas, avocados, leafy greens, a little salt), especially if you sweat heavily; iron (lean red meat, beans, lentils) for energy; and vitamins C and E and selenium from food (citrus fruit, nuts, seeds) to support recovery.
• Limit fruit to 2 to 3 pieces a day because of its sugar content. Most of your weekly fruit should come from section A of the nutritional data table. Fruit sugar (fructose) is handled mainly by the liver, which turns any excess into fat once its own glycogen stores are full.
• Eat 6 to 12 portions of vegetables a day, mostly from section A of the nutritional data table. This provides the fibre you need: fibre keeps you full for longer and slows the release of sugar into the blood.
• Vary the type and colour of your fruit and vegetables: different colours supply different vitamins, minerals and protective plant compounds.
• Reduce your carbohydrates only once 24 hours have passed since your last training session: by 10% on that non-training day, and by 20% on a second non-training day in a row. If you trained in the evening, keep your normal carbohydrate until the following evening. The 24 hours after training are when your body is repairing, rebuilding and adapting, and when your muscles refill their glycogen, so they still need their full fuel. After that, without another session, they use less, so they need less refilling.
• Make sleep a priority: it is when most repair happens and when your hunger hormones reset (see the science section). Your personalised sleep recommendation is on your 9 Pillars Lifestyle page.
• Keep alcohol to a minimum: it slows the building of new muscle protein and interferes with muscle repair, and it disrupts the deep sleep during which much of your growth happens.
• These are guidelines, not strict rules. Some may be hard to stick to. Just do the best you can.

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NUTRITIONAL DATA

Quick look macro tables

Easy to use tables to help you get the right amount of protein and carbohydrate into your meal plan. What does 10g of protein and carbs actually look like....

Your food list

Food, grouped by protein and carbohydrate

Each group lists portions with roughly that amount of protein or carbohydrate. Tap an amount to see the foods.

ProteinCarbohydrate

Protein

5gprotein8 items

• Handful of chickpeas
• 20 almonds
• 1 small egg
• Serving of peanut butter (for 2 small slices of toast)
• Handful of pumpkin seeds (20g)
• 1 slice of prosciutto
• 2 large handfuls of edamame beans (50g)
• Handful of cashew nuts (25g)

10gprotein8 items

• 2 small eggs
• 1 cup of soya milk
• 1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds (big handful)
• Serving of Greek yoghurt (100g)
• Serving of quinoa (60g)
• Serving of tofu (1/4 pack)
• 1/2 buffalo mozzarella ball (62g)
• Small portion of squid rings (100g)

15gprotein8 items

• Half a ready to eat pouch of Puy lentils (125g)
• 3 medium eggs
• 2 to 3 slices of smoked salmon (60g)
• 2 to 3 rashers of bacon
• Small handful of beef biltong (25g)
• Small sea bass fillet (90g)
• Small lobster tail (100g)
• Portion of smoked mackerel (75g)

20gprotein6 items

• Half a pot of cottage cheese (165g)
• Single hamburger patty (110g)
• Skinless cod fillet (120g)
• Skinless haddock fillet (120g)
• Serving of monkfish (150g)
• Single venison burger

25gprotein6 items

• Single beef steak (120g)
• 4 large eggs
• Tuna steak (120g)
• 2 skinless chicken thighs (120g)
• Single pork loin steak (130g)
• Skinless salmon fillet (110g)

30gprotein4 items

• Tin of tuna (120g)
• 6 slices of roast turkey breast (120g)
• Small venison steak (140g)
• Half a pack of venison mince (150g)

35gprotein2 items

• Average skinless chicken breast (170g)
• Packet of prawns (150g of raw prawns)

40gprotein2 items

• Half pack of lean beef mince (200g)
• Sirloin steak (230g)

45gprotein1 item

• Half a pack of turkey mince (150g)

50gprotein1 item

• Portion of diced turkey breast (150g)

Carbohydrate

5gcarbs2 items

• Small bowl of strawberries or raspberries (100g)
• Portion of blueberries (75g)

10gcarbs5 items

• 1 large carrot
• 15 cherry tomatoes
• Serving of mange tout (150g)
• Small slice of pumpernickel & rye bread
• Slice of rye bread

15gcarbs7 items

• Single aubergine (250g)
• Medium pear
• 4 Nairn's oatcakes
• Slice of wholemeal seeded bloomer
• Glass of Alpro oat milk (250ml)
• Portion of brown rice (75g)
• Portion of bulgur wheat (65g)

20gcarbs6 items

• Small banana
• Medium apple
• Serving of wild rice (85g)
• Glass of Alpro soya chocolate milk (250ml)
• Slice of Biona millet bread (50g)
• Serving of granola (50g)

25gcarbs3 items

• Slice of white sourdough bread
• Large banana
• Slice of spelt sourdough

30gcarbs5 items

• Single ciabatta roll
• Sweet potato jacket
• Half a pack of fresh egg noodles (150g)
• Serving of buckwheat soba noodles (50g)
• Serving of porridge oats (50g)

35gcarbs3 items

• Large wholemeal bread roll
• Serving of Straight to Wok Udon noodles
• Serving of giant wholewheat couscous (50g)

40gcarbs1 item

• Half pack of fresh rice noodles (150g)

45gcarbs2 items

• Medium jacket potato (200g)
• Serving of wholewheat spaghetti (75g)

50gcarbs2 items

• Serving of spinach pasta (75g)
• Serving of spelt pasta (75g)

Nutritional data tables

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Vegetables Section A24 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Asparagus	20	2	4 / L	0	2
Beetroot	43	2	10 / L	0	3
Capsicum Pepper Green	20	1	5 / L	0	2
Capsicum Pepper Red	31	1	6 / L	0	2
Capsicum Pepper Yellow	27	1	6 / L	0	1
Broccoli	34	3	7 / L	0	3
Brussels Sprouts	43	3	9 / L	0	4
Cabbage, Savoy	27	2	6 / L	0	3
Carrots	41	1	10 / L	0	3
Cauliflower	25	2	5 / L	0	3
Celery	16	1	3 / L	0	2
Aubergine	24	1	6 / L	0	3
Fennel	31	1	7 / L	0	3
Garlic	149	6	33 / L	0	2
Green Beans	31	2	7 / L	0	3
Kale	50	3	10 / L	0	2
Leeks	61	1	14 / L	0	2
Lettuce, Iceberg	14	1	3 / L	0	1
Mushrooms, White	22	3	1 / L	0	1
Onions	40	1	9 / L	0	2
Spinach	23	3	4 / L	0	2
Sugar Snap Peas	42	3	8 / L	0	3
Swiss Chard	19	2	4 / L	0	2
Turnips, Boiled	22	1	5 / L	0	2

Vegetables Section B6 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Butternut Squash, baked	40	1	10 / L	0	0
Olives, Green	145	1	4 / L	15	3
Peas	81	5	14 / L	0	5
Potato, baked with skin	93	3	21 / M	0	2
Sweet Potato, baked with skin	90	2	21 / H	0	3
Yams	118	2	28 / M	0	4

Fruits (Raw) Section A19 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Apples	52	0	14 / L	0	2
Blackberries	43	1	10 / L	0	5
Blueberries	57	1	14 / L	0	2
Clementines	47	1	12 / L	0	2
Cranberries	46	0	12 / L	0	5
Grapefruit	42	1	11 / L	0	2
Gooseberries	44	1	10 / L	1	4
Lemons	29	1	9 / L	0	3
Limes	30	1	11 / L	0	3
Melon, Honeydew	36	1	9 / L	0	1
Melon, Watermelon	30	1	8 / L	0	0
Nectarines	44	1	11 / L	0	2
Oranges	47	1	12 / L	0	2
Peaches	39	1	10 / L	0	1
Pears	58	0	15 / L	0	3
Plums	46	1	11 / L	0	1
Raspberries	52	1	12 / L	0	6
Strawberries	32	1	8 / L	0	2
Tomatoes	18	1	4 / L	0	1

Fruits (Raw) Section B11 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Apricots	48	1	11 / M	0	2
Avocado	160	2	9 / L	15	7
Bananas	89	1	23 / H	0	3
Cherries	63	1	16 / L	0	2
Figs	74	1	19 / L	0	3
Grapes	69	1	18 / L	0	1
Kiwi	61	1	15 / L	0	3
Mangoes	65	1	17 / L	0	2
Melon, Cantaloupe	34	1	9 / H	0	1
Papaya	39	1	10 / L	0	2
Pineapple	50	1	13 / L	0	1

Seafood13 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Clams, steamed	148	26	5 / L	2	0
Cod, oven cooked	105	23	0 / L	1	0
Halibut, oven cooked	140	27	0 / L	3	0
Mackerel, oven cooked	134	26	0 / L	3	0
Monkfish, oven cooked	97	19	0 / L	2	0
Mussels, steamed	172	24	7 / L	4	0
Prawns, cooked	77	18	1 / L	1	0
Salmon, oven cooked	206	22	0 / L	12	0
Scallops, steamed	112	23	0 / L	1	0
Sea Bass, oven cooked	124	24	0 / L	3	0
Shrimp, steamed	99	21	0 / L	1	0
Tuna, oven cooked	139	30	0 / L	1	0
Tuna, tinned	128	24	0 / L	3	0

Eggs and Dairy21 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Eggs, fried	196	14	1 / L	15	0
Eggs, poached	142	13	1 / L	10	0
Eggs, scrambled	167	11	2 / L	12	0
Eggs, whole hard boiled	155	13	1 / L	11	0
Camembert	300	20	0 / L	24	0
Cheddar Cheese	403	25	1 / L	33	0
Cheshire Cheese	387	23	5 / L	31	0
Cottage Cheese	98	11	3 / L	4	0
Cow's Milk, 3.25% fat	60	3	5 / L	3	0
Edam Cheese	357	25	1 / L	28	0
Feta Cheese	264	14	4 / L	21	0
Goat's Cheese, Hard	452	31	2 / L	36	0
Goat's Cheese, Soft	268	19	1 / L	21	0
Goat's Milk	69	4	4 / L	4	0
Gouda	356	25	2 / L	27	0
Gruyère	413	30	0 / L	32	0
Mozzarella	300	22	2 / L	22	0
Parmesan	392	36	3 / L	26	0
Ricotta	174	11	3 / L	13	0
Roquefort	369	22	2 / L	31	0
Yoghurt, plain whole milk	61	3	5 / L	3	0

Beans and Legumes10 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Black Beans, cooked	132	9	24 / L	1	9
Chickpeas, cooked	164	9	27 / L	3	8
Haricot Beans, cooked	140	8	26 / L	1	11
Kidney Beans, cooked	127	9	23 / L	0	7
Lentils, cooked	116	9	20 / L	0	8
Lima Beans, cooked	115	8	21 / L	0	7
Miso	199	12	26 / M	6	5
Pinto Beans, cooked	143	9	26 / L	1	9
Tempeh	193	19	9 / L	11	0
Tofu	76	8	2 / L	5	0

Poultry and Meat16 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Beef fillet, pan fried	179	28	0 / L	7	0
Beef Sirloin, 0% fat, pan-fried	188	30	0 / L	7	0
Beef Mince, 5% fat, cooked	137	21	0 / L	5	0
Chicken Breast, oven cooked	165	31	0 / L	4	0
Chicken Breast, pan/stir fried	187	33	1 / L	5	0
Chicken Legs without skin, oven cooked	191	27	0 / L	8	0
Chicken Thighs without skin, oven cooked	209	26	0 / L	11	0
Duck Breast without skin, oven cooked	201	23	0 / L	11	11
Duck Breast without skin, pan/stir fried	140	28	0 / L	3	3
Lamb Mince, cooked	283	25	0 / L	20	0
Pork Mince, cooked	297	26	0 / L	21	0
Pork Loin, cooked	131	25	0 / L	4	0
Turkey Breast without Skin, oven cooked	135	30	0 / L	1	0
Turkey Legs without Skin, oven cooked	159	29	0 / L	4	0
Turkey Mince, cooked	235	27	0 / L	13	0
Venison Steak, cooked	152	31	0 / L	2	0

Nuts and Seeds16 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Almonds	575	21	22 / L	49	12
Brazil Nuts	656	14	12 / L	66	8
Cashews	553	18	33 / M	44	3
Chia seeds	490	16	44 / L	31	38
Coconut, fresh	354	3	15 / L	33	9
Flaxseeds	534	18	29 / L	42	27
Peanuts, plain	567	26	16 / L	49	8
Pine nuts	673	14	13 / L	68	4
Pistachio, plain	557	21	28 / L	44	10
Pumpkin Seeds	541	25	18 / L	46	4
Sesame Seeds	573	18	23 / L	50	12
Sunflower Seeds	584	21	20 / L	51	9
Walnuts	654	15	14 / L	65	7
Hazelnuts	628	15	17 / L	61	10
Chestnuts, roasted	245	3	53 / H	2	5
Pecans	691	9	14 / L	72	10

Dried Fruits4 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Apricots	241	3	63 / H	1	7
Cranberries, sweetened	308	0	82 / H	1	6
Prunes	240	2	64 / H	0	7
Raisins, seedless	299	3	79 / H	0	4

Grains15 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Barley, Pearled	352	10	78 / H	1	16
Bread, Pitta Wholewheat	266	10	55 / H	3	7
Bread, Rye	258	8	48 / H	3	6
Bread, Wheat	266	11	48 / H	4	4
Bread, Wholewheat Commercial	247	13	41 / M	3	7
Buckwheat	343	13	71 / H	1	10
Millet, cooked	119	4	24 / M	1	1
Oats	389	17	66 / H	7	11
Quinoa, cooked	120	4	21 / L	2	3
Rice, Brown Long Grain, cooked	111	3	23 / M	1	2
Rice, White Long Grain, cooked	130	3	28 / M	0	0
Rice Noodles, cooked	109	1	25 / M	0	1
Rice, Wild, cooked	101	4	21 / L	0	2
Rye	335	15	70 / H	3	15
Spelt, cooked	127	5	26 / M	1	4

Natural Sweeteners3 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Honey	304	0	82 / H	0	0
Maple Syrup	261	0	67 / H	0	0
Molasses	290	0	75 / H	0	0

Oil4 items

Food per 100g	Cals	Protein (g)	Carb (g) / GL	Fat (g)	Fibre (g)
Coconut Oil	862	0	0 / L	100	0
Olive Oil	884	0	0 / L	100	0
Rapeseed Oil	884	0	0 / L	100	0
Walnut Oil	884	0	0 / L	100	0

GL = glycaemic load: L low, M medium, H high. Tap a section to open it.

Nutritional data table – Foods to avoid

Your food list

Foods to limit or avoid

FoodWhy

• Highly processed foods

  Typically these foods are low in nutrients and high in artificial chemicals and preservatives, which are potentially damaging to the body. These include ready-made meals, breakfast cereals, tinned produce, white bread, refined grains, cheese, fast food, crisps, fizzy drinks, bacon and ham.

• Added sugar or high fructose corn syrup

  These have a negative effect on your hormones. High sugar consumption is linked to diseases such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and even cancer.

• Trans fats (also known as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats)

  These are unsaturated fats that have been chemically changed to increase shelf life and make them solid at room temperature. They increase levels of small dense LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) and lower HDL cholesterol (the good kind). They also increase abdominal fat, which can lead to various health problems.

• Seed and vegetable oils

  They contain a lot of omega 6 fatty acids, but these need to be in the correct ratio with omega 3 for optimal use by the body. If not in balance it can lead to inflammation in the body.

• Artificial sweeteners

  These can increase your appetite as your body is expecting a large hit of carbohydrate that doesn’t arrive. They have been linked with obesity, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Sweeteners are also many times sweeter than table sugar and therefore can perpetuate sweet cravings.

• Low fat or diet foods

  Often these products are high in wheat, high in sugar and highly processed, so you may be better to choose the full fat version.

• Grains

  Be aware to eat the right type of grains at the right time of day for your particular body type and goal (this will differ for each person and is explained in your nutrient timing section). If you feel uncomfortable after eating them, it may be worth considering having an intolerance test.

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RECIPES

Check out our recipe page for lots of healthy tasty meals. 

Beneath every recipe there is a chart to advice you whether it's a good meal for an Endomorph on a fat loss goal, and if so then what time of day to eat it and whether to remove/add carbohydrate. Also remember to watch the video at the top of the recipe page for an explanation on how to use the chart.

Meat and poultry
Fish and seafood
Vegetarian
Smoothies

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NUTRITION INFO FOR YOU GEEKS

For those of you who are interested in understanding the science behind our methods, this is the section for you. Tap any topic to read more.

The science of muscle gainHow your body builds new muscleRead more Why your body type mattersSame pathways, different strengthsRead more How muscle gain worksStep by step, inside your bodyRead more Why your plan suits youYour fibres, insulin and fuelRead more Metabolism and carbohydrateHow your body handles carbsRead more Meal timing and eating timesWhy your meals are spaced as they areRead more Around trainingWhat happens when you trainRead more Food, sleep and your bodyFibre, sleep and key nutrientsRead more ElectrolytesWhat they do and why they matterRead more Changing your foodWhy your targets change graduallyRead more Muscle damage and repairHow training builds you back strongerRead more Sleep and your hormonesHunger, blood sugar and repairRead more

The science of muscle gain

How your body builds new muscle

Muscle grows when your muscles build new protein faster than they break old protein down. Both happen all the time: muscle protein synthesis (building) and muscle protein breakdown. Training and food tip the balance towards building.

Muscle protein synthesis and breakdownYour muscles are constantly being rebuilt. Muscle protein synthesis is the building of new muscle protein; muscle protein breakdown is the removal of old protein. You gain muscle when building is greater than breakdown across the day.

Lifting weights creates tension in your muscle fibres. Sensors in the muscle turn this tension into a chemical signal that switches on mTORC1, the muscle’s master ‘build’ switch. Protein from food supplies the building blocks, and one amino acid, leucine, acts as the key that turns mTORC1 fully on, so each meal needs enough protein to reach the leucine threshold.

mTORC1The master ‘build’ switch inside your muscle cells. It is switched on by lifting weights, by protein (especially the amino acid leucine) and by insulin, and switched off when energy is short. When it is on, your muscles make new protein.

Leucine thresholdLeucine is one of the amino acids, the building blocks of protein. It acts as the trigger that switches muscle building fully on. A meal needs about 2 to 3g of leucine to reach this threshold, roughly the amount in 25 to 40g of protein from meat, fish, eggs or dairy.

Building muscle is expensive, so it needs a small energy surplus. When energy is short, the fuel gauge AMPK switches on and puts the brakes on mTORC1, and building slows down. Carbohydrate matters too: it refills glycogen, which fuels the volume of training that drives growth, and it raises insulin after training, which reduces muscle breakdown.

AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase)A fuel gauge inside every cell. When energy runs low (during exercise, or when you eat less than you use), AMPK switches on. It tells the cell to burn fat and sugar for energy and to pause energy-hungry jobs such as building new muscle.

The key facts

Main pathway	Training tension → mTORC1 (the build switch) → muscle protein synthesis
Main fuel	Glycogen to power training; protein as building material; a small energy surplus to pay for growth
What your nutrition must do	Provide a controlled surplus, reach the leucine threshold at every meal, place carbohydrate around training and fuel every weights session

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Why your body type matters

Same pathways, different strengths

These pathways are the same in every body. What your genetics change is how strongly each one works: your mix of muscle fibres, how sensitive your muscles are to insulin, how fast your metabolism runs and how much fuel you can store. Your tendencies: Balanced, large fibres; favourable hormones; low myostatin (growth brake). So your plan: Modest ‘lean bulk’ surplus; carbohydrate evenly spread.

Insulin sensitivityHow well your muscles respond to insulin. High sensitivity means a small amount of insulin moves sugar quickly into your muscles. Low sensitivity (insulin resistance) means more insulin is needed and spare sugar is more easily stored as fat. It is partly genetic but improves greatly with training.

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How muscle gain works

Step by step, inside your body

Here is what is actually happening inside your body as you work towards your goal, step by step.

Step 1: Tension. Lifting a challenging weight stretches and strains your muscle fibres. Sensors in the fibre wall detect this tension and turn it into a chemical signal. This is the trigger for everything that follows.

Step 2: The build switch turns on. The signal switches on mTORC1, the muscle’s master ‘build’ switch. Protein from food (especially the amino acid leucine) and the insulin released after a meal push the switch fully on. At the same time, training eases myostatin, the muscle’s natural growth brake.

Step 3: New muscle protein is built. With mTORC1 on, ribosomes (the tiny protein factories inside your muscle cells) build new actin and myosin, the strands that make muscle contract. When building runs faster than breakdown across the day, the fibre gets thicker.

Step 4: Satellite cells join in. For a fibre to keep growing it needs more ‘control centres’ (nuclei). Satellite cells (muscle stem cells sitting next to each fibre) fuse with it and donate new nuclei, allowing it to grow larger.

Step 5: Fuel pays for the building. Building muscle costs energy, so it needs a small calorie surplus. Glycogen powers the sets and reps that drive growth, and carbohydrate after training raises insulin, which reduces muscle breakdown.

Step 6: Growth happens during recovery. The building continues for 12 to 72 hours after training, depending on your body type, and much of it happens during sleep, when growth hormone is released. Muscle is built after the session, not during it.

How these steps work in your body type: Every step runs efficiently in your body type: mTORC1 switches on readily, myostatin is low and your muscles store glycogen well, which is why a modest surplus is enough.

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Why your plan suits you

Your fibres, insulin and fuel

Athletic body types have a good balance of slow-twitch (endurance) and fast-twitch (power) muscle fibres, so you build muscle readily and respond well to most types of training.

Your genetics give you a balanced mix of large fibres, naturally favourable hormones such as testosterone, low myostatin (the muscle’s natural growth brake) and a build switch, mTORC1, that turns on readily when you eat. That is why a modest ‘lean bulk’ surplus with consistent protein and evenly spread carbohydrate is all you need.

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Metabolism and carbohydrate

How your body handles carbs

Your muscles have a good number of GLUT4 ‘doors’ and a balanced mix of fibres, so they respond well to insulin and store glycogen efficiently. Your fat cells release fat readily because hormone-sensitive lipase, the enzyme that frees stored fat, works well in your body type. Together these make you metabolically flexible: able to switch smoothly between fuels.

GLUT4A ‘door’ (transporter) that lets sugar from the blood into your muscle cells. Insulin moves GLUT4 doors to the surface of the cell; exercise does the same thing on its own, without needing insulin. The more GLUT4 doors your muscles have, the better you handle carbohydrate.

Hormone-sensitive lipaseThe enzyme inside fat cells that cuts stored fat into fatty acids so they can be released and burned. Adrenaline switches it on; insulin switches it off.

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Meal timing and eating times

Why your meals are spaced as they are

Your meal timing

Each meal raises insulin for roughly 2 to 3 hours. Spacing meals 3.5 to 4 hours apart lets insulin fall back between meals so your body is not constantly storing fuel, while each protein-rich meal re-triggers muscle building.

Your eating times

Your larger glycogen stores comfortably cover the overnight fast. A fasted start raises fat use through low insulin and higher adrenaline, but very hard or heavy work runs mainly on glycogen, which is why heavy sessions are still fuelled.

Your eating window and meal spread

What the research shows about eating windows. Most trials of time-restricted eating (eating within a set number of hours each day) use windows of 6 to 10 hours. In men with prediabetes, eating within 6 hours on the same calories improved insulin sensitivity without any weight loss (Sutton, 2018); in adults with obesity, an early 8-hour window gave a little more weight loss and lower blood pressure than a 12-hour one (Jamshed, 2022). Resistance-trained men eating within 8 hours kept their muscle and strength and lost fat (Moro, 2016). But when calories are matched, adding an eating window to a calorie reduction does not by itself produce more weight loss (Liu, 2022), and without protein and weight training some of the weight lost can be muscle (Lowe, 2020). So your eating window is a tool for controlling how much you eat and, for the less insulin-sensitive body types, for improving insulin sensitivity. It works together with your calorie target, protein and training, not instead of them.

Protein per meal. Muscle protein synthesis (the building of new muscle protein) is switched on by each meal that passes the ‘leucine threshold’: enough of the amino acid leucine to trigger mTORC1, the muscle’s build switch. In younger adults the response is close to its maximum at about 0.25g of protein per kilogram in a meal, and in adults over about 60 at about 0.4g per kilogram, because ageing muscle needs a stronger signal (‘anabolic resistance’). Very large servings are not wasted, but each extra gram does less, which is why your protein is spread across at least three meals.

Protein before sleep. Casein, the main protein in milk, clots in the stomach and releases amino acids slowly over several hours, so muscle building continues through the night instead of stopping during the overnight fast. Protein on its own barely raises blood sugar, which is why it is the one exception to finishing eating 3 hours before bed.

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Around training

What happens when you train

After training, glycogen synthase, the enzyme that refills your muscle fuel stores, is at its most active, and exercise has moved GLUT4 ‘doors’ to the surface of your muscle cells, so carbohydrate goes straight into muscle. Protein with leucine switches the muscle-building switch, mTORC1, on. In your body type this building response is strong and lasts around 24 to 48 hours.

Glycogen synthaseThe enzyme that builds glycogen: it links sugar molecules together into chains for storage in your muscles. It is most active in the first 30 to 60 minutes after training, when your stores are low.

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Food, sleep and your body

Fibre, sleep and key nutrients

Low-GL foods and fibre slow the speed at which sugar reaches your blood, so insulin rises gently instead of spiking. Fibre also feeds the healthy bacteria in your gut, which make compounds that improve insulin sensitivity and appetite control. Sleep matters because even one poor night can reduce insulin sensitivity the next day and raise cortisol, the stress hormone that encourages muscle breakdown and fat storage around the middle. Hard training and sweating raise your need for electrolytes and iron.

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Electrolytes

What they do and why they matter

Electrolytes are minerals that carry a tiny electrical charge when they dissolve in your body’s fluids. That charge is what lets your nerves send signals and your muscles contract: every heartbeat and every rep depends on them. Electrolytes also decide where water goes in your body: sodium holds water outside your cells and potassium holds it inside, so the balance between them controls how well hydrated your muscles and blood stay.

ElectrolytesMinerals such as sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium and chloride that carry an electrical charge in your body fluids. They power nerve signals and muscle contractions and control the balance of water inside and outside your cells.

When you sweat you lose mostly water and sodium (roughly 0.5 to 1.8g of sodium in every litre of sweat), with only small amounts of potassium, magnesium and calcium. Running low can show up as cramp, headaches, tiredness, dizziness and weaker training. A balanced diet covers most people’s needs; a pinch of salt or an electrolyte drink matters mainly after long or very sweaty sessions, or in hot weather.

Electrolyte	What it does	Signs of low levels	Good food sources
Sodium	Holds water in your blood and around your cells; carries nerve signals. The main electrolyte lost in sweat.	Headache, nausea, tiredness, muscle cramps, confusion; in severe cases, seizures.	Salt, stock, olives, cheese, bread
Potassium	Holds water inside your cells; sets the electrical charge across nerve and muscle cells; controls heart rhythm.	Muscle weakness, cramps, tiredness, constipation, palpitations or an irregular heartbeat.	Potatoes, bananas, beans, lentils, leafy greens, avocado
Magnesium	Needed by over 300 enzymes, including those that make energy (ATP); helps muscles relax; keeps nerves from over-firing.	Muscle cramps, twitches and tremor, tiredness, weakness and an irregular heartbeat; low magnesium also lowers potassium and calcium.	Leafy greens, nuts, seeds, wholegrains, dark chocolate
Calcium	Triggers every muscle contraction; builds bones; helps blood clot and nerves signal.	Short term: tingling around the mouth and in the fingertips, muscle spasms and cramps. Long term: weaker bones and a higher risk of stress fractures.	Dairy, fortified plant milks, tinned fish with bones, tofu
Chloride	Works with sodium to balance fluids; used to make stomach acid for digestion.	Usually lost together with sodium: weakness, tiredness, cramps and signs of dehydration.	Salt, seaweed, tomatoes, olives

How low levels cause these signs. Every nerve and muscle cell carries a small electrical charge across its membrane, set by the balance of sodium and potassium inside and outside the cell. Sodium: when blood sodium falls (most often from drinking large amounts of plain water during long, sweaty sessions), water moves into cells by osmosis (water moving towards where dissolved minerals are more concentrated), and swelling of brain cells causes the headache, nausea and confusion. Potassium: low potassium makes the resting charge across cells more negative, so nerves and muscles are harder to fire, causing weakness, and the heart’s rhythm can be disturbed. Magnesium acts as a natural brake on calcium entry into nerve and muscle cells; when it is low, nerves fire too easily, causing cramps, twitches and tremor, and the kidneys lose more potassium. Calcium: your blood calcium is held very steady by parathyroid hormone, which draws calcium from bone when intake is low, so a low intake usually shows up slowly, as weaker bones; when blood calcium itself falls, nerves become over-excitable and muscles spasm. Chloride is lost alongside sodium in sweat and vomiting, so its signs are those of sodium loss and dehydration.

These signs have many possible causes. If they persist, see your GP: a simple blood test can check your electrolyte levels.

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Changing your food

Why your targets change gradually

Why calories change gradually. Leptin is made by your fat cells and acts on the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that controls hunger and energy use. In an energy deficit leptin falls quickly (within days, and further than the fat you have lost would explain), and the brain responds by raising hunger, lowering the activity of the sympathetic nervous system (which drives energy use), and reducing everyday movement (NEAT). At the same time, the conversion of the storage thyroid hormone T4 into active T3 falls, so cells burn less energy. Together these changes are called adaptive thermogenesis: energy use falls by more than the weight lost would predict. The bigger and faster the cut, the stronger the response. In the opposite direction, a large sudden surplus delivers more energy than the muscle can use (muscle can only be built slowly), so the extra is stored as fat, mostly from dietary fat, which needs very little processing to be stored.

NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis)The calories you burn through everyday movement that is not planned exercise: walking, standing, fidgeting, household jobs. It can differ by hundreds of calories a day between people.

What carbohydrate does when you build muscle. When protein intake is enough, adding carbohydrate does not switch muscle building on any further: protein (and its amino acid leucine) and training are what switch on mTORC1, the muscle’s build switch. Carbohydrate supports building in other ways: it fuels the volume and intensity of your training, refills glycogen so the next session is just as good, and raises insulin, which slightly reduces muscle protein breakdown. Low glycogen switches on AMPK, the cell’s fuel gauge, which puts the brakes on mTORC1, so keeping glycogen topped up keeps the building signal clear. A calorie surplus matters too: muscle building is an energy-costly process, and in an energy deficit muscle protein synthesis falls.

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Muscle damage and repair

How training builds you back stronger

Hard training, especially the lowering part of each rep, causes small-scale damage in the muscle fibre: some of the contractile filaments are pulled out of line and the fibre’s membrane becomes leaky, letting calcium in. Calcium switches on enzymes called calpains that begin breaking down the damaged proteins. White blood cells then move in: first neutrophils, which clear debris, then macrophages, which also release growth factors such as IGF-1 that activate the muscle’s stem cells (satellite cells). Over the following days the damaged areas are rebuilt, and the muscle adapts so the same work causes less damage next time. Soreness from this process (DOMS) usually peaks 24 to 72 hours after a session.

Exercise-induced muscle damageTiny disruptions in the muscle fibre caused by hard training (especially the lowering part of each rep), which the body then repairs. It is what causes delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS), which usually peaks 24 to 72 hours after a session.

Damage is part of the process but not the goal: the main signal for muscle growth is mechanical tension (the force the muscle produces against the weight), which switches on mTORC1. Nutrition supports repair and adaptation: protein supplies the amino acids to rebuild, carbohydrate refills glycogen, and getting both in soon after training makes the most of the session, especially if you trained fasted or several hours after your last meal. Over the whole day, your total protein and carbohydrate matter most; timing adds to that rather than replacing it.

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Sleep and your hormones

Hunger, blood sugar and repair

Hunger and appetite. Sleep loss shifts the two hormones that control hunger. Ghrelin, the ‘hunger hormone’ made by the stomach, rises; leptin, the ‘fullness’ hormone made by fat cells, falls. In a controlled study, two nights of four hours’ sleep lowered leptin by 18%, raised ghrelin by 28% and increased hunger by about a quarter, with the strongest cravings for high-carbohydrate, high-calorie foods (Spiegel, 2004). Brain scans show why: after a short night, the brain’s reward areas respond more strongly to food, while the frontal areas that weigh up decisions are less active (Greer, 2013). Across studies, people who are short of sleep eat roughly 250 to 400 kcal more the next day, enough to cancel out much of a typical fat-loss deficit.

GhrelinThe ‘hunger hormone’, made mainly by the stomach. It rises before meals and acts on the hypothalamus to make you feel hungry; it falls after you eat.

Blood sugar and insulin. A single night of four hours’ sleep reduced insulin sensitivity by about a fifth in healthy adults (Donga, 2010). The causes include raised evening cortisol, higher activity of the sympathetic (‘fight or flight’) nervous system, and more fatty acids in the blood, which interfere with insulin’s signal inside the muscle cell. The result is that the same meal raises blood sugar and insulin higher, and more of it is stored.

Repair and growth. The largest pulse of growth hormone each day is released in the first period of deep (slow-wave) sleep, early in the night, and testosterone rises during sleep and peaks in the morning. Both support repair and muscle building, and both fall when sleep is cut short.

Deep (slow-wave) sleepThe deepest stage of sleep, when brain waves are slow and large. Most of it comes in the first half of the night, and it is when the biggest pulse of growth hormone is released.

For your goal: A single night without sleep reduced muscle protein synthesis by 18%, raised cortisol by 21% and lowered testosterone by 24% the next day (Lamon, 2021), and a week of five-hour nights lowered daytime testosterone by 10 to 15% in young men (Leproult and Van Cauter, 2011). Short sleep therefore slows the building process directly. Your body type gains fat quickly when routines slip, and short sleep drives the extra eating that causes it.

Your personalised sleep recommendation is on your 9 Pillars Lifestyle page.

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